Untitled Part 52
Chapter Fifty Two: Pawns
Yuji~
Frantic couldn't even begin to describe the turbulent emotions that Yuji was experiencing-- it was something closer to sheer terror. He wanted nothing more than to bash down the door of the metal shed and pull Yachi, his Omega, to safety. To run away somewhere far away and shield her from the world, but reality was making things far more complicated. In his heart, he knew that the best course of action for Yachi, was to prioritize the group's protection first. To prioritize Suga.
He was more than seven meters away from the silver Omega, the source of the intoxicating scent that was swirling around in the open air, yet he was still struggling to keep his Alpha instincts in check. They wanted to stake their claim Suga, even if his conscious mind wanted the complete opposite. He was being torn between the multiple desires-- between his human nature, his instincts, and his need to protect the pack. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure the correct ones were victorious.
He hazarded a glance over his shoulder to ensure that Bokuto was covering the right side of the shed opposite him. The owl was facing down three prowling female Alphas, but he couldn't spare his packmate any help-- he had his own problems to deal with. He jerked his gaze back to the two Alphas ahead of him and furrowed his brows. He had seen their distorted body language before. It was animalistic, with much of their humanity lost to their heat-induced feral nature. The first of the two, a female, was crouched down on the dry grass and her unblinking eyes were darting between him and the shed. He knew that her instincts were cognizant of his defensive stance, trying to ascertain whether he was enough of a threat to warrant her attention. He was going to make damn sure that he was.
"Stay. Back," he growled out in warning, then snapped his brown eyes to the male Alpha a few paces behind her. The man seemed to be significantly less feral, however, he was still clearly influenced by Suga's overbearing scent. "The Omega is already claimed. Go. Home."
The male Alpha took a domineering step forward and smirked, ignoring the lurking female at his side. "Oh? Where is his Alpha, then? It certainly isn't you. I doubt a beta like yourself will ever claim a mate."
Yuji nearly scoffed at the open insult on his Alpha dominance, but shoved the sudden desire away with force. So, he thought as he grit his teeth together, the fucker still has enough control over his instincts to think and speak clearly. The very idea of it churned his gut-- that an Alpha was consciously interested in an Omega that had accidentally fallen into heat. If he had been a half-decent man, he would have tried to keep other Alphas away from the shed-- or at the very least, he should have left the park altogether at the first scent of Suga's heat.
"He's claimed. Fuck off," Yuji snarled and subconsciously unleashed his Alpha scent in its fullest form. He was growing more irritated with each passing second the unwelcome man remained in his presence. His sly quips on Yuji's instinctual dominance were not helping. "Leave. Now."
"He?" The male Alpha sneered back, then shrugged his broad shoulders with a heavy sigh. "That's a shame, really. I prefer females."
Yuji's mind nearly snapped in two at the passing remark. It was audacious-- speaking about Omegas as if they were objects to be used and discarded. Suga had accidentally fallen into heat, he was vulnerable in the purest sense. This was about bonding for life, not some simple Alpha-Omega lay. How could the male Alpha be so blase about the situation? "Then fucking get out of here," he snarled back, baring his teeth with fury as drops of feral spit dribbled down to his chin. "You're not wanted here, anyways."
The Alpha wriggled his fat nose, then licked his lips before laughing again. "Are you smelling the same shit that I am? Or are you too much of a beta to pick up on it?" He retorted with another wry smirk that churned Yuji's insides. Then, he heartily sniffed the air and his dark eyes rolled back in their sockets. "How can you not want to fuck the source of that deliciousness. Male or female. Who cares. I want it."
"You're...disgusting," Yuji growled and rolled his shoulders to loosen his muscles. He could ascertain very little by way of scent, aside from Suga's heat. Even in the open park, the various other fragrances assaulted his senses to a nauseating degree. Even if, by some miracle, he had a more dominant scent than his two opponents, it wouldn't even matter. They wouldn't be able to smell it anyways. "You don't deserve to have an Omega."
The male Alpha cackled loudly, then met Yuji's piercing gaze. "Oh, because you're so evolved. Don't fucking kid yourself. You're just as much of an Alpha as I am. We have needs, special needs, that can only be sated by one thing. It's the circle of life."
This time, Yuji laughed. He couldn't help it, the man had things so twisted up inside his own thick skull. "Fuck right off with that nonsense," he snarled, then moved a few paces to the right to get a better angle on his two opponents. The female Alpha had stayed silent thus far, but her blue eyes had remained fixed on him throughout the entire conversation-- waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack. He was surprised that she hadn't already.
He was all too aware of the dire circumstances. This wasn't a regular Alpha brawl. If he wasn't careful, there was no doubt in his mind that things would turn into a bloodbath. Nothing, not a broken arm or a plethora of fractured ribs, would stop a rampaging Alpha from trying to claim an Omega in heat-- and Yachi would be collateral damage. If his pack was going to successfully defend the shed, one-on-one matchups would be more favourable for them.
Yet, here he was with two opponents. Two opponents that he knew absolutely nothing about. He didn't know their strengths that he needed to avoid, nor any weakness' that he could exploit. He couldn't even smell if they were in the same pack. If they were, that would spell even more trouble for his already precarious situation-- they would be more likely to work together against him. They could always sort out who got to lay claim to Suga after they had blown right through him.
He bit his lip and felt the muscles in his back ripple with renewed tension. He could allow one of the Alphas to slip past him, but Hajime, Kuroo, and Oikawa already had their own opponents to deal with. They were relying on him to keep their left side clear, so he was just going to have to do his best to make that happen.
He blinked slowly, momentarily lost in thought, and shuffled from one foot to another on the dry grass. The only way he was going to be able to keep both opponents away from Suga and the inner defenders, was to knock one of them out cold. It was his best chance at victory. Glancing between the two Alphas, he decided that the female was his best bet. She was already completely feral-- a much larger liability than the mouthy male. The plan suited him fine, he was really looked forward to knocking the male Alpha down a few pegs in a more extended brawl.
With his decision made, he knew that he had no more time to waste. He had to be quick in his actions. In a split second, he launched towards the crouching female and reached for the collar of her white shirt. As he gripped into the soft fabric, her body jerked towards him and she quickly threw out a low kick to take out his legs. The pair of them fell to the hard earth in a mess of snarls before Yuji was able to flip his weight and pin the woman beneath him. She clawed at his yellow shirt, stretching the cloth with her nails as he forcefully pushed his hands around her tense neck. As he held off her air supply, he felt silent roars vibrate through the woman's crushed windpipe and up through his strained hands. She managed to get a few heavy punches to his ribs from the side, ones that he was certain broke a few of his bones, before her movements grew sloppy and weak.
He knew that he needed to release her neck at just the right time-- he didn't want to kill her, just put her out of commission for a while. He had choked out many Alphas in his day and, by this point, he was very confident in the craft. With his own dominant scent as soft as it was, open brawling with sheer strikes almost always led to his defeat. Beating a dominant Alpha like Chaki in an outright brawl had been a fluke, he had been lucky that the disgusting man had been distracted by Yachi. He had learned very early on that he had a higher chance of victory if he used grappling techniques-- ones that utilized his opponent's aggression and dominance against them. His female opponent was smaller, her muscles weaker than his own, so he knew that he could use his own weight against her to subdue her.
It was not long before he felt the woman's neck begin to relax under his fingers, and he slowly released his grip. Her body grew limp beneath his own and her head lolled to the side. He exhaled to release some of his pent-up apprehension when the familiar, charming voice chimed in once more.
"Wow, you really know how to treat a lady."
Yuji grimaced at the coy words, but was nonetheless relieved by the unexpected chirp. He had thought that the male Alpha would have taken advantage of his distraction to high-tail it towards Suga and the trapped Omegas in the maintenance shed. It was now obvious to him that the man was an adrenaline junkie-- an Alpha who craved high stakes brawls above everything else. He was certainly in the right place-- an Omega in heat would definitely up the ante and cause a lot of unnecessary blood shed...maybe even death.
Through narrowed lids, Yuji glanced up at his snarky opponent and used a finger to blindly check for the female Alpha's pulse-- faint, but still alive. Good.
"You know," the male Alpha continued and stretched his hands towards the rich, orange sky. "You and your irresponsible Omega friend over there have really ruined my evening. I mean, just look at what you've done to my date."
Yuji snorted, then hoisted himself up to unsteady feet. His right ribs were pounding, but he ignored them. "I'm sure your date will make a speedy recovery. You really want to be next? You can still walk away, you know."
The man paused for a moment, as if he was considering the idea, then shook his dark head. "Well, now that you've choked out the person I was going to fuck tonight, I'm going to need to find an alternative. And lo and behold! Some higher power saw fit to drop that sweet smelling Omega right in my lap."
If Yuji didn't want to claw out the man's brain before, he certainly did now. He understood that Alphas, himself included, were slaves to their instincts in certain situations, but they could still fight back against them. The Alpha standing before him was a representation of everything he had grown to hate in the past few months. The man was willing, almost eager, to allow his feral nature to guide his actions. He had not completely lost himself to Suga's heated scent, yet he had made a conscious decision to remain.
Yuji didn't want the man anywhere near Yachi, or any of the Omegas in his pack, for that matter. He would die before he allowed that to happen.
For a moment, he imagined killing the disgusting man, but the happy mental image was cut short when he noticed two more approaching Alphas from the far treeline. Fucking fuck, he thought and shoved down a sudden rise of panic in his gut, things were going to get out of control.
He and his housemates had been the ones called in as backup...and now the backup needed backup.
Ukai~
Ukai was seated on an uncomfortable, yet beautifully carved, chestnut bench outside the Disciplinary Committee Office. The hearing, which was much closer to a informal meeting , was less than ten minutes away, and he was nervous. His stomach was uneasy-- he knew the odds were stacked against him and the innocent Omega nest. As he flipped through the loose leaf pages of his case against Chaki and his Alpha residence, his mind subconsciously flickered to Miyo. She had offered to accompany him to the meeting, but they had mutually decided that the Committee would be more apt to listen to an Alpha professor-- not an Omega. The very idea of it churned his gut. He had already made peace with the fact that his raven mate was much more clever and quick-witted than he was. Not only did she have every right to attend the hearing, but he knew that the case would be stronger if the Committee were to actually take the time to listen to what she had to say. Instead, he was forced to shoulder the entire case on his own and he was worried that he was going to let everyone down.
He groaned under his breath and closed his eyes, internally going over his arguments for the case once more. A few minutes later, a deep voice filled his open ears with its level, almost lifeless tones.
"Professor Ukai? They're ready for you now. If you would follow me please, sir."
Ukai's brown eyes popped open and he nodded at the male Alpha standing before him. "Fantastic."
He rose up from the bench, inwardly sighing at his aching body-- christ, he was getting old. Then, he followed the slow-moving Alpha towards an ornate looking door at the end of a long and empty hallway. They were nearly halfway there when an unfamiliar feeling surged through his veins. His dress shoes, ones that he rarely wore, squeaked against the well-waxed floor as he stalled in place.
The Alpha attendant ahead of him slowly turned around and flashed him with a perplexed look. "Professor...? Is everything okay, sir?" He asked as his eyes darted around the empty hall-- searching for the source of Ukai's sudden agitation.
No, everything was not okay...
Ukai's wide eyes jerked around in their sockets and he clutched at the papers in his hand, crumpling them with his heavy grip.
Something was wrong...
His chest constricted and his breathing grew shallow, echoing down the otherwise quiet hallway. Something deep inside of him felt...off. He had heard tellings of it from a few of his mated Alpha friends-- about the internal connection that would pulse inside their skulls when their mates were in danger. Now, he was experiencing it first-hand. He could feel Miyo's apprehension and pain in the marrow of his bones. It was under his clammy skin, behind his eyes, and inside his now-throbbing skull. The deep seated ache that he had never before felt, almost like a heavy-handed panic attack, only, he knew exactly where the sudden surge of anxiety was coming from.
Miyo. His mate had been injured, physically injured. Somehow, he knew that it wasn't from some clumsy action, like stubbing a toe. Someone had attacked her, and he was going to slaughter the fucker who did it.
"I. Have. To. Go," he suddenly growled out at the stunned attendant, much louder than he had expected to, and turned on his heels.
OUR MATE. OUR MATE IS WOUNDED.
His instincts began roaring inside his skull and slicing at his logical thoughts.
He needed to find her. He needed to find her, now.
"But sir...the meeting can't be resche..."
Ukai didn't even hear the attendant's final words-- he had already pushed through the back doors and jogged through the waiting room. In that moment, nothing else mattered to him. His mind was filled with tragic and terrifying images of Miyo. Worst case scenario images that he wished he could shut away forever.
He needed to get to his mate.
Daichi~
Daichi was surprised when he had woken up to a morning text from Shoyo, inviting him to practice volleyball in a rented-out gym that afternoon. He had expected more of the yellow house members to be in attendance, particularly his Alpha teammates. Instead, he found himself in a large, echoing gym with the ginger Omega and the sullen setter, Tobio. While he was still perturbed by Shoyo's invitation, he was grateful that one of the nestmates still considered him a friend-- even after everything that had happened with Suga. Plus, he couldn't deny that he was happy to have an excuse to get out of Ukai's house. His coach had been lost in the lovey dovey world of a newly mated man. He wouldn't shut up about Miyo-- it made Daichi want to vomit.
The first half hour in the well-lit gym was slightly awkward, but it wasn't due to he household drama from his recent breakup. Instead, the source was the strange, argumentative relationship between Shoyo and Tobio. Both boys maintained a near constant state of irritation with each other, but there was also an unspoken affection underneath the facade that Daichi was quick to pick up on.
The idea of Shoyo and Tobio falling in love in their own, bizarre way hurt his tender heart. A part of him, somewhere deep inside, hoped that the two housemates would fall out of love in some painful way, but he was quick to squash the feeling down. He knew that he didn't want to wish ill will upon the other Alpha-Omega pairs in the yellow house, but he couldn't help but feel even more alone in their presence.
He missed Suga. He wasn't sure that the feeling, or even the idea of the silver Omega as his mate, would ever go away-- a notion that was truly terrifying for him to come to terms with.
About half way through their practice session, very close to to the one house mark, a strange feeling began to stir inside his gut. At first, he ignored it-- brushing it off as the usual heartache from Suga that he was all too familiar with. As he continued to demonstrate receives for Shoyo, he felt his instincts begin to coil around the deep-seated emotion, pulsing and quivering with new agitation. Both his instincts, and the the strange feeling they were attaching themselves to, were still muted-- he had worked very hard over the last week to dull every emotion he had. However, his observing self could tell that his feral nature was growing more and more frantic with each passing moment. It was as if it were trying to tell him something important, but he had no idea what exactly it could be.
After demonstrating one final receive off of Tobio's wicked jump serve, he excused himself for a moment under the guise of grabbing water. In reality, he had grown extremely unsettled. He felt like he had an infuriating itch that he couldn't scratch. Or rather, he couldn't even find the location of the itch to scratch in the first place.
Grabbing for his large, navy-coloured water bottle, he absentmindedly squirted some of the cool liquid into his mouth. As he swished it between his teeth, he reached a large hand to wipe the excess sweat from his face and was shocked to find that his skin was searing hot to the touch-- much too warm to be from physical activity alone.
"Daichi!" Shoyo called from somewhere far away, luring Daichi's attention with sharp, high pitched tones. "Are you okay? You look like you're overheating..."
"Yeah..." Daichi replied in a distant tone. The world around him was suddenly blurring out of focus. The only remaining thought in his mind was fixated on the strange feeling, surging through his burning veins. His muted instincts were clawing at his brain and his overheating skin was spreading across every inch of his body. "I think...I think I'm going to go and splash some...some water on my face. I'll be right back."
Before he had the chance to hear a reply from either Tobio or Shoyo, he had already dragged his heavy feet towards the men's locker room. He kept his poise until he had pushed through the wooden door, then he stumbled across the square tile towards the lines of sinks near the far side of the room. For a moment, he held himself up with two hands on the grimy, plastic counter and tried to gather his senses. He was losing the ironclad grip on his feelings, and he was frightened. He had worked very hard to keep them away, far away, for good reason. His fragile heart couldn't take the upset, so he would turn to to rage. He didn't want that.
His body felt like it was being stabbed from every angle with fleeting emotions and thoughts-- gone too quickly for him to analyze properly. All he knew was that he was hot, overwhelmingly so. His dark eyes felt unfocused and dry. His stomach was churning, threatening to spill up its meager contents of water and toast. He reached down with shaky hands, turned the squeaky tap and splashed some cool water onto his face.
As the liquid drenched his burning skin, the last vestiges of his control snapped and his instincts began to slowly seep out with avengence. His mind was thrown through a slow loop of mental images of Suga and his aching heart suffocated inside his chest. He had no idea what his roaring instincts wanted him to do, but he needed his bodily sickness to stop. Glancing up at the mirror in front of him, he grimaced at how hollow and sunken his face and eyes had become over the last week. Then, he sighed and closed his eyes-- relinquishing his conscious mind to the will on his feral nature.
He knew that the roaring in his brain, his churning gut, and his unbearably hot skin would only go away if his instincts got what they wanted-- whatever the fuck that was. He was too emotionally tired to fight back any longer.
Whatever they wanted, wherever it was that they wanted to take him, he was going to allow it. This time.
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